2012 Food Challenge

One of our goals for 2012 is to spend less time at the grocery store and eating out and more time at our own table trying out fun new recipes and ideas. Between our garden, CSA and co-ops I am only going to the store once a week or less now; I used to go numerous times a week since we go through so much produce and it was required to catch the good clearance deals on organic items, not any more though!

We are making a list of things we would like to make (and master?) in 2012, some we have tried before and need a little tweaking, others are all new! Some are staples that we'd love to be able to eat again by making them organic or are foods from New Zealand that aren't available in the US and others are treats. OK, most of them are treats... here's the start of it:
1. Puff pastry for sausage rolls
2. Pop tarts
3. Mince pies
4. Pavlova

5. Tater tots
6. Granola bars
7. Knock-off Almond/coconut KIND bars
8. Fish fingers
9. Hamburger buns/hotdog buns
10. Cereal bars
11. Lamingtons

12. Doughnuts
13. Whole-wheat pita bread
14. Thin mints
15. Twix Bars
16. Black bean brownies
17. Milk arrowroot biscuit
18. Gingernuts
19. Dinner rolls
20. A good Thai curry
21. A good Indian curry
22. Sandwich bread
23. Refried beans
24. Perfect brown rice every time
25. Chicken nuggets
26. Homemade pasta
27.
28.
29.
30.

My husband is thinking about the last five foods that he would like added to the list. Stay tuned!

Our Family's Favorite Board Games

Mr. Monkey just turned four and has been really getting into board games lately, we all have a lot of fun and he doesn't even know that he's learning!

The latest addition to our game closet is the Richard Scarry Busytown Eye Found It Game. P got it for Christmas so we have only played it once so far but we all immediately fell in love with it. The game board is approximately 6 ft long and has pieces for up to 4 players. Each player spins the wheel and moves that number of squares up the board, the goal is to make it to the island before the pigs eat everything out of the picnic basket! Along the way you search as a team for items depicted on cards and when you find one you put a little orange magnifying glass on it; when time is up you count how many of that item you have found and then everyone gets to move that number of squares. P picked up on the rules very quickly and has asked to play it again tomorrow!

He also got Dinosaur Train Crazy 8s for Christmas from Santa. I was worried this might be a little difficult for him but after a couple games of taking it slow, explaining each move he was doing it all on his own, the biggest issue we have with this game is teaching him how to hold his cards without dropping them... we started with 5 cards just to make it a little easier. Little smarty beat me 6 out of 7 games we played this afternoon!

I think his all time favorite game is Monopoly Jr. Dig'n Dinos. It teaches basic addition and subtraction while you move around the board discovering and purchasing different dinosaurs. It has bills $1-5 so it is not too overwhelming for little ones but is still challenging for kiddos that have already been introduced to math; P took the first game pretty slowly but has quickly grasped the concept of purchasing his dinosaur for a certain amount, can read the price on the square and determine if he has enough or if he has to combine a few $1 bills to equal the amount. He loves this game! Don't be turned off by the price, we bought ours used through Amazon for roughly $8, not a bad deal at all!

Candy Land is a classic, colorful and fun kid's board game that teaches counting and color recognition. P got this for his 3rd birthday and picked it up very quickly and it's still a favorite today. I love that it can take 5 or 20 minutes depending on the luck of the draw, it's a great before bedtime game for a little quality family time

Another game that we have is Chutes and Ladders. We don't play this one very often, it is still a little difficult for P. He does great with the counting but the different directions you move across the board in are a bit confusing for him, we'll keep working on it!

Do you play board games with your pre-schooler? What are your favorites to play? Or are there some that are still a little advanced for them, how old are they?

31 Days of Kindness Continued

We've been busy blessing others since my last post on our month of random acts of kindness; have you blessed someone today?

Since then we have:
~ Put new sweaters and a hair dryer under the giving tree at P's school
~ Given all the change I get to P to put into the bell ringer buckets outside the grocery store
~ Delivered a 12 pack of a friend's favorite soda to her along with a giftcard for her Nook to say thanks for all her help

~ Found three little boys while at the grocery store and gave them new wooden cars and fire engines! This one was tricky, two out of the three parents took a bit of convincing; they were very skeptical about why we might want to be giving their child free toys but the one mama we found immediately gave us a huge smile and thanked P and her little one's face lit up

~ Sent a package to a little boy struggling with jealously since his little sister was born. He was in need of a few new shirts and pants (some P had outgrown) and we also sent a new train. His mother said that it really brightened his day. P had a lot of fun making a card for him too!

 ~ Taped a $1 bill to a local redbox along with a 'enjoy your movie' note. It was gone when I went back to the store that night for something I had forgotten, I hope they enjoyed their movie!
~ Made a special effort to hold doors, let people go in front of us in line to return some items as well as on the highway and at the grocery store. Everyone is in a hurry right now, us... not so much!
~ Delivered a box of homemade chocolate peppermint cookies to one of our local fire stations along with a note thanking them for their service to the community

 ~ We also popped a box of peppermint sandwich cookies along with a couple other gifts in the mailbox for our USPS carrier, she has certainly earned them this year with all my co-op boxes!

~ I also found two mamas in need on Diaperswappers, a forum I frequent and sent them baby items, cloth diapers and toys we will not be using
~ P also ran a lotto on Diaperswappers asking mamas in need to post photos of their train loving little ones and he chose one to send a new train and roundhouse to for Christmas. The little boy he chose loves ride on mowers just like P does!

I realize some of these aren't really random per-say since we do *know* our mail carrier for example but we have made an effort to think of someone, random or not, each day that would benefit from a smile, a little kindness, thank you or a gift and P is learning so much about giving to and thinking of others!

I'm sad that there's only another week or so left of December... we may have to keep going into 2012!

Quick & Easy Christmas Crafts

Practice shapes, cutting and pasting with this candy cane craft, no fancy skills or materials needed!

Make your very own Santa with card stock and cottonballs! P added an abominable snowman and little green stocking to his

And don't forget his reindeer! Find and print a reindeer online, paint it and a couple clothes pins, give him a nose and set him up all ready to pull Santa's sleigh!

Linking up with No Time for Flashcards

Chocolate Brownie Cookies

These are my new favorite cookie; so soft and chewy and chocolatey! Next time I make them I plan on adding some white or semi-sweet chocolate chips and/or nuts, I think they would be even better, if that's even possible! Today though we made them into peppermint sandwich cookies that I would, will, and have, fought my husband for

A huge thanks to Our Best Bites for introducing us!

Chocolate Brownie Cookie

1 1/2C flour, spooned and leveled, not scooped
3/4t baking soda
1/4t table salt
1C semisweet chocolate chips
3/4C packed light brown sugar
5T butter
1T water
1 large egg lightly beaten

Frosting Ingredients

1/2C real butter (1 stick) - softened
2C powdered sugar
1/2t peppermint extract
milk, as needed for consistency - I used roughly 4t

To make cookies:

~ Preheat oven to 350 F degrees and prepare your baking sheet as desired or pop your stoneware in the oven to heat through

~ Melt chocolate chips, brown sugar, butter and water in a pan over low-medium heat until melted and smooth - there will still be grains of sugar though, don't worry about those!

~ Lightly beat an egg in your mixing bowl and then pour chocolate mix into said bowl. Mix well

~ Slowly add flour, baking soda and salt mixture (I know some like to combine in a bowl first, I combined it all in my big measuring cup and then pour it in, I don't want to dirty more bowls!) and mix until just combined

~ At this point the dough will still be pretty warm; let it sit for a few minutes on the counter or pop in the fridge to make it easier to handle

 ~ To make small sandwich cookies use a melon baller or teaspoon to make small balls. For larger cookies use a table spoon. Roll and squish the dough slightly and press just a little onto the baking sheet

~ Bake small cookies for 5 minutes or 8 minutes for larger cookies; they will still be soft and squishy in the middle but cooked on the edges and cracked on top

Frosting Ingredients

1/2C real butter (1 stick) - softened
2C powdered sugar
1/2t peppermint extract
milk, as needed for consistency - I used roughly 4t

~ Beat ingredients together in stand mixer adding milk one teaspoon at a time until a spreadable but not too soft consistency is reached

~ Place frosting in a zip-top bag and cut off corner or a frosting bag etc if you have one. Pipe onto one cookie and place another on top

~ Roll edges in crushed candy canes

I still had some frosting left so I made larger cookies, frosted the tops and sprinkled candy canes over the icing; I think I like them even more than the sandwich cookies!

Linking up with Somewhat Simple, It's Overflowing and Sew Much Ado WDW

Kidmade Christmas Cards ~ Teacher's Gifts

These Christmas cards were really quite easy to make and P got to practice his ripping skills too!

We started with 2 sheets of contact paper, glitter and some tissue paper and ended up with this (it kind of looks like the USA lol)

We make some cards out of red card stock and a small Christmas tree template.Using scissors and a craft knife I cut out the trees and then we glued a panel of our contact paper to the back of each cutout. A piece was white cardstock was used to line the inside of the card so we could write it them (and hide manufacture secrets) ;)

 

Next time we won't use any white tissue paper, the white cardstock on the back is enough

One card went to P's teacher along with a new Thermos (I'm sure she likes to enjoy her drinks while they're still hot occasionally!), a Target gift card and some homemade layered mint chocolate fudge

The school support staff and supplemental teachers (art and music class etc) each got a card, some homemade fudge and a small gift card to Starbucks. I think they were all most impressed with the cards! We love it when something we make makes others so happy :)

Linking up with Tater Tots & Jello and One Artsy Mama

Dino Dig: Dinosaur Sugar Cookies

P's birthday party was this past weekend. We had a lot of fun working with his dinosaur theme, there's so much you can do with dinos! I know there are a lot of other little one's out there that love dinosaurs so will be sharing different aspects of the party over the next little bit, maybe they'll help you plan your next dino party :)

These sugar cookies were super easy to make and delicious! I stored the dough in the fridge overnight then cut them out and baked them the day of his party.

Thanks to my friend Jen for posting this recipe on a forum I frequent!

The dinos above were baked for a shorter time than the fossil pieces - because fossils are not white afterall!

Sugar Cookies

1 cup salted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp baking powder
3 cups flour

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add in vanilla and egg

2. Slow add dry ingredients
3. Pop the dough in the fridge for a little bit then roll out and cut

4. Bake in 400 degree oven for 6-8 minutes

Cookies are done when they appear dull and/or edges are starting to lightly brown. Let cool before decorating.

 

We of course cut our cookies into dinosaurs using this set we got off Amazon but this recipe is perfect for a basic but delicious cookie to decorate for Christmas and other occasions!

Dino Dig Birthday Party!

P turns 4 on the 19th but we had his 'Dino Dig' birthday party this past weekend so it didn't interfere too much with Christmas celebrations. We were so happy that a lot of his little friends came to help celebrate his special day and we all had a great time!

Happy 4th Birthday P man! 

I had a lot of fun working with his dinosaur theme, there's just so much you can do with dinosaurs!  Stay tuned for more dino inspired posts!

Homemade Sausage Rolls

Sausage rolls are standard birthday party fare in New Zealand and Australia but they're not available here! What's a homesick kiwi to do? Make them! I made sausage rolls yesterday for the first time ever and they were awesome, just like home and everyone (including all the Americans) devoured and raved about them! Better yet, the filling can be made ahead of time, it only gets better if you let it sit overnight I think!

Sausage Rolls

2 slices bread
1/2C half & half
1 medium carrot, peeled and fine-diced or shredded
1/2 medium onion, fine-diced (or shredded in food processor)
1/2t oregano

1/4t basil
1/4t thyme
1/3t garlic powder
1/4t curry powder
1T salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork

2-3 sheets puff pastry (17.3-ounce box), thawed

1 egg white whisked with 1T water for eggwash glaze 

To prepare filling:

~ Place bread in food processor and pulse into crumbs. Transfer to a bowl and soak in the half & half. Set aside

~ Place ground beef into the food processor and pulse until it is finely-ground, almost a puree. (Do not let the processor constantly run as the friction heat will begin to "cook" the meat.) Place in a large mixing bowl. Repeat with the pork

~ Prepare onion and carrot and shred in food processor. Next time I will also add some spinach

~ To the beef and pork, add the carrots, onion, sage, thyme, garlic powder, curry powder, salt, pepper, and cream-soaked bread crumbs. Mix thoroughly with a large fork, but do not overwork or the result will be tough

~ At this stage I popped the filling into a pyrex container and stored overnight

To make sausage rolls:

~ Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper or grease as desired

~ Roll out one sheet of puff pastry into a rectangle about 10 inches by 14 inches. Cut in half lengthwise so you have two long strips

~ Divide the sausage mixture into four. Form each sausage portion into a log and place down the center of each puff pastry strip

~ Pull each side of pastry up to meet forming an encased sausage roll. Wet your fingers lightly with water and moisten along the seam to seal the dough together

~ Cut each sausage roll into 4-10 pieces. Place on prepared jellyroll pan seam-side down (I baked on a sheet the first time but preferred the method below allowing the grease to drip away from the rolls). Repeat with remaining sausage and puff pastry sheet/s

~ Brush each sausage roll with the eggwash glaze. Bake 30 to 40 minutes until golden depending on size of the rolls. Let cool 5 minutes before serving with tomato sauce or ketchup

My Green Kitchen Must Haves

I'll be honest, I spend a fair bit of time in the kitchen making meals from scratch and then doing the 100 dishes I create making a batch of pancakes (am I the only messy cook here??) but there are a few kitchen gadgets that do make this crunchy mama's life easier that I thought y'all might appreciate. And if this page just so happens to be left open for your husband, who has yet to get you a Christmas gift, to see... well, good!

Rice has always been a staple in our household, we generally have it a couple times a week. Here's where I admit that I am horrible at making rice on the stove; I forget about it, I mismeasure, it boils over and makes a mess... enter the Miracle Exclusives Stainless Steel Rice Cooker. It makes perfect rice every time and is not coated with a gross non-stick surface or made of aluminum, we don't have sticking any worse than we did in our old non-stick model

Popcorn is a great healthy snack but microwave popcorn is full of all sorts of nasties; chemicals and genetically modified corn as a start, is excessively packaged and expensive! Presto makes a couple great hot air poppers that allow you to make delicious popcorn at home without any added oils, fats or salt. We add a sprinkle of sea salt to ours and occasionally a little butter. I know a few people who like coconut oil on theirs

I bought this popcorn maker for my husband 3 Christmases ago and it's still going strong!

They offer another popcorn maker that also has great reviews that is slightly cheaper and works just the same

Breakfast on the weekends is generally something special since my husband is home to eat with us and while we don't have waffles often (do you know how much butter is in a batch of waffles!?!) when we do we use our Cast Iron Rome Waffle Iron. It is an affordable non non-stick option that takes up very little space in our cupboards AND it makes awesome waffles

This next one is not necessarily a 'must have' for everyone but now that we've had it homemade icecream is certainly a must have for us! And really, who would turn their nose up at homemade icecream? My husband surprised me a few months back with a Cuisinart Icecream/Frozen Yogurt/Sorbet Maker and it's awesome. We have used it to make egg-free icecreams including a chocolate pudding icecream as well as the traditional egg-yolk based kind and all of them have come out well. It only takes 30 minutes to take your custard from liquid to icecream

Even if you live under a rock this next gadget is probably on your wishlist. Who doesn't want one? I always thought they were over rated, just a glorified stand mixer and I hated that mine didn't have a head that lifted up. And anyway, I grew up whipping cream with a hand powered wisk (which may have taken an hour by the way!) so why did I need this thing? Well, let me tell you, one night I had rice in the cooker, dessert in the oven, dinner on the stove and my KitchenAid Stand Mixer was whipping the cream for said dessert all by itself, no supervision or hand cramps needed. Sold!

And to store all of your delicious leftovers? Pyrex Food Storage Containers. I own a cupboard full of it and I would happily take another ton of this stuff, you can never have enough! The lids are BPA free, dishwasher safe and the containers are made of glass that won't retain colors or odors from your food -- so important!! They don't get scratched either like plastic tupperware tends to. I use mine in the fridge, freezer and oven, no problems and cuts down on dishes!

Last but certainly not least, one of the best gifts my husband has ever given me; a professional stainless steel mandoline slicer. I know, what? Seriously, I thought the same thing when I first opened it but since then I have used it almost every.single.day. No kidding. I slice onions, zucchini and bell peppers perfectly (and quickly!) for pizza... eggplant for eggplant parmesan, potatoes for the oven, cucumbers for our salad and can also grate and slice potatoes into fries. Well worth the money in my opinion!

What do you want for Christmas this year/what have you asked for? What kitchen gadget can you not live without (I'm always looking for new tools!)?

31 (or more) Random Acts of Kindness

That's how we are spending our December this year; thinking of others each day and brightening their day the best we can. We figured that this would be a wonderful way to bring joy to others and teach the monkey what Christmas is really about, I think it may end up becoming a yearly tradition, December is a busy month for us but you have time for what you deem important, right?

On the first of December a friend came over to make some ornaments with P and I. I thought she would appreciate a batch of her favorite cookies (Anzacs!) so I made those, they were yummy!

P had a movie and game night at school on the 2nd while parents were invited to go out and get some Christmas shopping or something done without sneaky little eyes watching them. DH and I enjoyed a hot drink and cookie at Panera and then a leisurely round of walking through Home Depot, Target and Best Buy. When we pulled into Home Depot there was a man wondering around the parking lot in the dark. As we were walking into the store he yelled to us from behind (I can say it freaked me out a little) and was really quite gruff about needing some money to get gas for him and his mom to get back to Louisiana. We didn't have any cash though, we told him sorry and went on our way. As we were paying I asked DH if he could get just $10 cash back and he did. We went out into the parking lot looking around for the man but he was gone. We figured we would give the cash to the next person who needed it. We drove down to Target and got out of our car to see that same man walking through that parking lot. We walked up to him, handed him the cash and wished him a Merry Christmas and safe travels. He said God Bless and thanked us over and over. I hope he was able to make it home.

On Saturday morning we took a miniature Noble fir and a box of homemade ornaments over to my mother in law's house. She had told DH that she wasn't going to get a tree this year since our big family Christmas was over already, that she would just use a fake tree and be done with it. I wasn't going to let that happen; I suggested we get a little low maintenance tree, make some ornaments so she wouldn't even need to pull out her Christmas box and just show up over there with it all and set it up. She was thrilled with her tree, foam Santas and dinosaur ornaments, looked lovely :)

Today was a rainy cold day so we didn't really have many opportunities to help others. After we had put P to bed I surprised DH with a random and kind backrub while he played Xbox, I also took the trash out for him so he wouldn't have to AND put in a new bag :)

This week we are getting ready for P's birthday party on Saturday but I plan to deliver a couple gifts to the gift tree at P's school and also put together some thank yous for our UPS and USPS deliverers; they have delivered more than my fair share of boxes this year with all my co-ops! P and I are also hoping to deliver some homemade cookies to our local fire stations, he'll get a kick out of that!